Chaddsford Planning Associates once again chaired the Front Page
Focus plenary session at the EBT Next Generation conference in Orlando. The topic focused on the future of electronic
benefits transfer (EBT) now that, 35 years after the first EBT demonstration
project in Pennsylvania, all SNAP beneficiaries and nearly all participants in
the WIC supplemental nutrition program receive their benefits via an EBT
card. Where do we go next?
Front Page Focus took a holistic look at EBT by discussing the addition
of other government payments to the core state EBT platform. These partner
programs might include managed healthcare, foster care payments, adoption
services, and child support enforcement. Opening up the core EBT platform to
such partner programs would make existing EBT programs more robust and more
convenient for beneficiaries, who would be able to access multiple benefits from
one source. Potential partners studied by the speakers included Medicaid,
managed care organizations, healthcare providers as well as foster care agencies.
Participating in the session were Nancy Bucceri, Managing Partner
of Chaddsford Planning Associates, who discussed the nexus between SNAP and
managed care programs. Also
participating on the panel was Pat O’Donnell, Vice President of Payment
Processing of YoungWilliams, and John Pfeuffer, Vice President of Business
Development for Conduent State and Local Solutions, one of the largest EBT
payment processors.
Bob Bucceri, General Partner of Chaddsford Planning Associates,
arranged the session and served as moderator.
The panel discussed the natural synergy between nutrition programs
and healthcare payers seeking to manage chronic disease by addressing food
insecurity that can put people at risk for hospitalization. Combining foster care payments and SNAP on a
single card can also reduce food insecurity and related health risks for children
in the program. Speakers also looked at potential technical obstacles to adding
foster care payments to an EBT card since they are currently dispensed on different
card platforms. SNAP is dispensed via EBT cards and foster care by a debit
card.
Mobile technology combined with enhanced data analytics can help
fight fraud and system abuse. While SNAP fraud accounts for only .9% of the total program expenditure, it
jumped 61% from 2012 to 2016, costing taxpayers $592.7 million and bears
watching.1
In addition to this lead-off discussion on the future of EBT, the
conference featured sessions on USDA’s SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot, the client
experience with EBT, technologies showcasing opportunities for mobile, challenges
with cyber security and identity management, and data driven approaches to
better serve participants.
EBT-the Next Generation is a service of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, which relies on the ATM Industry Association for assistance managing the conference.
Over 400 people registered to attend this year's conference.
For more information on who we are and what we do, visit us at www.chaddsfordplanning.com